Friendship Fruit Cake

I posted the recipe for the friendship fruitcake starter yesterday, and although the holidays are still far in the distance, I wanted to post the full recipe for the fruitcakes now to help you decide whether or not you want to embark upon this fruitcake adventure, because the decision will need to be made fairly soon. The starter takes three weeks to make, and the cake itself takes a month. So I figured you’d need a better description of the resulting cake and photos to help you understand why you should bother with any cake that is going to take this long to make.

After you have your starter ready, you will add peaches, pineapple, and maraschino cherries to it over time, along with copious amounts of sugar. Your fruit will become essentially candied in it’s own sugary juices, giving you the most flavorful candied fruit you could ever add to fruitcake. This fruit beats the stems off store-bought candied fruit. It is just sooo….fruity. Usually when I taste a candied cherry, it doesn’t taste like much except sweet. This candied fruit is sweet, but has so much flavor!

The actual time you will spend working on the starter and the fruit is maybe a minute a day, and totally worth the result. And if the fruit itself wasn’t enough, the recipe for the cake itself is outstanding. I have two versions available, but both are moist and delicious, and studded with this magical fruit, nuts, and shredded coconut. Absolutely fantastic and nothing like the fruit cake you last turned your nose up at.

Now, let’s talk about the batter that surrounds the fruit, nuts, and coconut. Usually, friendship fruit cake is made with a cake mix. Two of them, to be exact. When I made this cake last year on Christmas eve, I only had one mix, and of course every grocery store was closed, and I couldn’t find a single convenience store that sold cake mixes. Rather than let the lack of a second mix defeat me, I decided to halve the recipe for the cake (what I now call the “easy version” although technically it’s the “original version”) and use half the fruit for it, then make a batter from scratch to mix the remaining fruit into.

To tell you the truth, I really can not pick a favorite. I love, love, love them both. In fact, I actually would recommend you do the same as me, halving both recipes and using half the fruit in both to see if you can pick one. (Just be very careful to halve everything–this can get tricky if you don’t physically write down the new measurements before starting.) They are so different and both so good in their own way.

The cake mix cake is very moist, and very sweet with a great cake mix flavor. I’d say the cake mix version has more of a holiday feel than the other, because it is sweeter. The cream cheese cake is less sweet, the slight tang of the cream cheese pairing nicely with the sweet, candied fruit. It tastes more “real,” for lack of a better word, more home made. It seems more of like a cake to enjoy with tea, and this would be a great version to make throughout the year. I keep wanting to pick the cream cheese one as my favorite, until I remember how nice the cake mix one was, so I have given up. I leave the decision entirely up to you, but either way, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Stir every day for ten days. When not stirring mixture, keep it covered with a splatter guard, paper towel, foil, or a loose lid. Let sit at room temperature. Do not refrigerate it or cover it airtight. A pan of water underneath the jar or bowl will keep the ants out, but I had no problem with bugs since I made mine in the winter.

Day 30
Drain fruit and reserve it and the liquid. Pour the liquid into three glass pint jars. Save one for yourself for your next fruit cake, and give two to friends, along with a copy of this recipe. Cake must be started within 3 days after receiving the starter or you should freeze the starter to use at a later date. Do not use plastic or metal containers to store liquid.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour two 12-cup Bundt pans or four large loaf pans. In a very large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil and eggs. Stir in the raisins, nuts and coconut, and the reserved fruit from the starter. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. The batter will be stiff. Spread batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sit on wire racks and wait ten minutes before turning them out onto the racks to cool completely. I spray my cakes thoroughly with water while cooling to help make them more moist—the water absorbs and does not change the flavor. Store in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap. Serve at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour two 12-cup Bundt pans or 4 large loaf pans; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Beat in the oil. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until incorporated. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; the batter will be thick. When barely any streaks remain, mix in the raisins, nuts and coconut, and the reserved fruit from the starter stirring well. Scrape batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Place the cakes in the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

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About Veronica

I have a kitchen addiction and love to collect & share recipes. My passion is baking but I love to cook as well. The only thing I don't like to do in the kitchen is wash dishes, but my husband generally does them for me in exchange for his dinner.

OK, your question is complex and has many answers-lol. First of all, you will only have 2 cups of liquid starter after making the starter recipe. You will not have three bottles. You won’t have three pints until after you actually start the recipe on this post and use the starter to candy the fruit. The liquid that is leftover after that process will yield three pints.

Now, each version of the cake uses one starter, and each version of the cake uses all the fruit. So unless you already have two starters on hand, you can either choose one recipe with your single starter, or like I mentioned in the post you can halve each recipe and use half of your candied fruit in one and half in the other. Be very very careful in that case, making sure you halve everything in the recipe, or you will have ruined cakes on your hands.

ok, so you don’t actually use the liquid for the cake, right? That is just for the fruit. Do you use all the fruit in your fruit cake? So yesterday’s recipe was for the starter and this is for the cake. I got confused because you made jam with the starter yesterday. That is just an option, right? Sorry, your directions seem easy, I just want to make sure before I start the whole process. It sounds like an interesting project.

No, you save it for your next cake and give two away (freeze the one you keep), then you would follow this recipe next year using your jar of starter–and you don’t have to do the starter ever again. You will always have it as long as you save a jar. Woot! Yes, you use all the fruit for the cake. I didn’t make jam with the starter I made jam with the fruit from the starter–the starter is just the liquid which you use to then candy the fruit you will be using for the cake. I know, it’s kinda confusing. And yeah, you can do whatever you want with the fruit from the starter–eat it, trash it, put it on ice cream.

I don’t know…maybe it just hasn’t spread the same way the friendship bread spread b/c it’s only made once a year typically and maybe by the time a year passes, the starter is forgotten in the depths of the freezer. I’m looking forward to making it again and am glad I have my blog to remind me to do it.

Are you talking about other fruitcakes that age after being baked, or this one that the fruit sits around for so long? In either case, sugar is an incredible preservative and that makes it safe. To give you a crazy example, my mother bought a ton of candied fruit in the late 80s, thinking she would make a zillion fruitcakes. That fruit was in my parents basement for twenty years before Dad finally got sick of it…and ATE it! Yes, it was still preserved after all that time, albeit a little dry-lol. Baked goods are more prone to going bad than candied fruit, but in the case of fruitcake, it is usually a lot of alcohol which helps preserve them. You’d be amazed at how long very sweet/sugary desserts will last before going bad. Everyone is paranoid about cream cheese frosting and usually keep it in the fridge after icing with it but I’ll let you in on a little secret. I left some at room temperature for two weeks before I discovered it…and it still was good (yes, I’m crazy and tasted it.) So those are my thoughts. Bet you didn’t sign up for that much of them! lol

I have not frozen the cakes but I imagine they would. If you freeze them, wrap them well first in plastic wrap, then either wrap in foil or put inside a ziploc bag or a bag with a twist tie. Get it as airtight as possible. I freeze cakes a lot and this is how I do it-mine never have a freezer taste.

Hey Veronica! Congrats on the new babe. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas! I am baking this cake right now and I am super excited about it. I have always hated fruit cake but my “Grandmother”,my dad’s mom, used to make it, she and her friend would pass starter back and forth to each other all the time but I never ate any because I didn’t like the idea of fruit cake. I hated the way it looked and all the stuff they put it in. I was so young back then. But my “NaNa”,my mom’s mom, wanted a fruit cake this year so I am making one. I found your recipe on Pinterest. Thanks so much! I can’t wait to try it now. My daughter has warned me that it “better be good” so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Hey there just a follow up on the fruit cake… It was the bomb!!! I used banana pudding instead of vanilla because I picked up the wrong kind but out was still awesome. Everyone loved it. Especially my daughter. I shared starter with my best friend and froze the other two. Thanks so much for the recipe!

One quick question. I just added the peaches to the starter (I’m making cakes for Easter) and the massive amount of sugar just settled right to the bottom of the bowl. Is this normal? Will it eventually dissolve into the liquid? (I noticed none of your pictures had a pile of undissolved sugar in them and started to worry!)
This recipe looks so good! I hope I’m on the right track.

Yes, do not fret, that is normal. My pictures don’t show it settled b/c I took them right after stirring. It takes several days for the sugar to completely dissolve – just remember to stir every day or it will take longer. You are on the right track and I hope you and your family love the cakes!

Hi….I was researching this recipe and found lots of them but I really like yours because so far ur the only one that give a recipe to make a cake from scratch (the cream cheese kind) and I am always doing that!
But I have 2 questions that I hope u can answer….first your recipe calls for 1/2c. Sugar in day 10 is that right because
other recipes call for 2 c. or 2 1/2c.
And 2nd I see u use 20oz. Of cherries in day 20 and other recipes call also for mix fruit or fruit cocktail

I have made this cake for the past two years thanks to your recipes! They turned out so good! I never even wanted to try fruit cake now I look forward to making them. The first time I made it was on Christmas Eve, my family ate the whole cake that night! I had to put away the other cake for the next day.
I only made one change to your recipes and that wasn’t intentional. When I got ready to bake, I realized that I had gotten banana pudding mix instead of vanilla and I was a little concerned because I wanted to make it exactly like your recipe says. But it was Christmas Eve! As you know from experience I couldn’t just run to the store. So, I used the banana pudding mix and OH BOY! It tasted awesome! My family won’t even let me change it now to vanilla but I still want to taste it that way too. What to do :-)

That makes me SO happy to hear! I sometimes wonder if anyone ever makes any of the stuff I post, especially weird fruitcake that takes months to make. haha! Really glad to hear you guys love it and the banana flavor does sound good, some extra fruitiness! I would halve the recipe and use half the fruit in a vanilla batch and the other in your banana, then you can try the vanilla while still keeping your family happy. I’d love to hear what the winner is, maybe I need to try banana next time too!

Veronica do I put the leftover liquid that I placed in the jar for a later date in the freezer,,,I was afraid that it will break after it freeze. What should I do…you have been so helpful…bye the way how is the baby doing must be getting big…Thanks Again

My mother did this recipe from the 80s.
My recipe makes 3 cakes. I have tried different
Flavored cake mixes also, like spice cake mix, and came out good.
When I make a cake, it takes 1 1/2 cups brandied fruit. I don’t put raisins in mine though, but may try golden raisins, or dates in one!! Yum. Thanks.

My mom used to make this every Christmas because she was always given a starter. I tried a few years ago and it failed so hard. Then I found your recipe and decided this year was going to be the year! So far, everything has gone exactly as I remember it going for my mom and I’m really excited to make these cakes. I do, however, have a question I’m hoping you can answer.

After getting started on the second phase (using the starter juice I made and adding peaches and sugar), the mixture started to foam. I remember this very clearly from years ago, so all was well. Then I added the pineapple and sugar, it continued to foam. Still good. However, after I added the cherries and 2 1/2 cups of sugar, the foaming has completely stopped. I’ve only got a few days left now before I make my cakes and nothing has foamed. Everything else looks fine.

So my question is this: is the foaming a necessary part throughout the process? Is this what happens when a starter “dies”? If so, what might I have done wrong? What does it mean when a starter “dies”? Will I have to re-make a starter next year? Thank you!

I hope your cakes turned out great! As far as I recall, my starter didn’t foam at all the first year, which is when I posted this recipe, and it turned out great. The second year it started foaming. I’m sure it’s fine!

They came out great! Everyone who got some of it were pretty floored! I have the starters in my deep freeze for the next holiday, so it all turned out great! My only concern is that should my starters ever die, I won’t know in time to make another. I have no idea what to look for when it comes to a starter dying. Guess I’ll just have to hope it doesn’t happen!

I’m not sure how it would die or what it would look like except for mold. Mold is no good! I’ve had some readers report mold and I don’t know why it happens to some and not others, the only thing I can figure is a difference in climate. Since yours did OK the first year I’m sure you’ll be fine!

I am NOT a fruitcake eater but thought I would make this as a kitchen style science experiment. I made half a recipe and my-oh-my is it yummy! Light, sweet and delicious…. Just might have to try the cream cheese version in the future.